Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Charles Stephenson
First published in 2008 by
Charles Stephenson
ISBN: 978-0-9560590-0-0
ii Introduction
6 Pictures
20 The Tower
30 Restoration
35 Bibliography
i
Map
1
National Archives; CRES 49/2675 336298.
ii
Introduction
charles.d.stephenson@googlemail.com
1
Including The Fortifications of Malta 1530-1945 (Oxford; Osprey, 2004),
Zeppelins: German Airships 1900-40 (Oxford; Osprey, 2004), The Admiral’s
Secret Weapon: Lord Dundonald and the Origins of Chemical Warfare
(Woobridge; Boydell Press, 2006) and Servant to the King for His Fortifications:
Paul Ive and the Practise of Fortification (Doncaster; DP&G, 2008).
1
The Clwydian Range of hills cover an area of some 1600 hectares (or
nearly 4000 acres in old money) stretching east-west from the Vale
of Clwyd to the Dee Estuary, and north-south from around Prestatyn
to close by Llandegla. This area has, since 1985, been designated as
an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The tallest promontory in the
range, at some 555 metres (1,820 feet), may be found to the north-
east of Llanbedr DC and is named Moel Famau, which translates into
English as ‘Mother’s Mountain’ or ‘Hill of the Mothers.’ It is said
that Moel Famau used to be a volcano, and, rather incredibly, there
exists an account, written at Holywell on the 2 February 1733, of it
erupting on the night of 31 January that year.
This tale needs to be treated with extreme caution, and,
annoyingly, the earliest images of Moel Famau, such as the 1796
painting entitled ‘Carreg Carn March Arthur’ by the local, Halkyn
based, artist John Ingleby, only depict the mountain after the
supposed volcanic event (Picture 1). Indeed, this painting, though
obviously subject to a degree of artistic licence, shows the summit
much as it appears today. We can then only speculate as to the
extent, if any, that natural forces moulded the top of Moel Famau in
1733.
It is though entirely possible to be more specific about the
man-made alterations that were visited upon the peak some 77 years
later, for many of the relevant records still exist. One of the prime
instigators behind the scheme for the erection of a monument to
commemorate the 1810 Golden Jubilee of King George III, who had
ascended the throne on 25 October 1760, seems to be the splendidly
named Reverend Whitehall Whitehall Davies, who owned estates at
Broughton Hall, Flintshire, and Llannerch, Denbighshire. Whitehall
Davies was the rector of St Mary’s Church, Selattyn, Shropshire
when he wrote, on 8 January 1810, to George Kenyon, 2nd Baron
Kenyon of Gredington (from the family seat of Gredington Hall at
Hamner, Flintshire), a fellow member of the Welsh landed gentry.
2
[. . .] a party of us set out for Moel Famau, the highest of the hills
bounding the valley [. . .]. There stands on it what remains of the
Jubilee Tower erected in honour of George III’s 50th year of royalty,
an ugly and trumpery construction, makebelieve-massive, but so frail
that it was blown over by the gale that wrecked the Royal Charter,
and it cumbers the hilltop and interrupts the view.
2. A painting by Thomas
Harrison, believed to show
one of the two original
designs for the Jubilee Tower
that he produced. ( Original at
The Salt Museum, Northwich
1977.3419.5).
7
3. Harrison’s ‘Egyptian’
design for the Jubilee
Tower, as submitted to the
Prince Regent on 4 March
1811. There are three,
almost identical, renditions
of this design; at the
Cheshire Record Office
(ZCR 73/52); The Salt
Museum, Northwich
(1984-3633) and at the
Royal Archives, Windsor.
6. The base of the tower sometime after the collapse of the upper
portion on 28 October 1862. At least two of the corner towers are
more or less still intact, probably dating this picture to the late
nineteenth century. The large number of people atop them indicates
that they were a popular destination. It was fear for the safety of
such visitors that impelled Alegernon Potts to ask, in 1904, for
warning signs to be erected. (Author’s collection).
9
The Clwydian Range of hills cover an area of some 1600 hectares (or
nearly 4000 acres in old money) stretching east-west from the Vale
of Clwyd to the Dee Estuary, and north-south from around Prestatyn
to close by Llandegla. This area has, since 1985, been designated as
an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is a proposition that
few could argue with.2 Indeed, the Clwydians form a magnificent
landscape, as was noted by the polymath Captain Richard Burton,
en-route from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia aboard the Cunarder
‘S. S. Canada’ on 21 April 1860. As the vessel traversed the Mersey
estuary he gazed upon ‘[. . .] the sun streaked Welsh mountains, a
distant reproduction of the Spanish Sierra Nevada, bounding the
horizon on the left.’3
The tallest promontory in the range, at some 555 metres
(1,820 feet), may be found to the north-east of Llanbedr DC and is
named Moel Famau, which translates into English as ‘Mother’s
Mountain’ or ‘Hill of the Mothers.’ It is said that Moel Famau used
to be a volcano, and, rather incredibly, there exists an account,
written at Holywell on the 2 February 1733, of it erupting on the
night of 31 January that year. The account begins by recalling the
exceptionally heavy snowfall that had occurred, before moving on to
the eruption:
The night before last, Moel Famau, a very high mountain in this
neighbourhood, was heard to utter, as it were, deep groans; the
adjacent hills trembled from their roots. The noise, at eleven o’clock,
was like the sound of a distant thunder, from the rolling of huge
1
‘Old Möel Fama sits in state,
The Mother of the mountain band,
In conscious majesty elate,
The cherished beacon of the land.’
Sarah Lawrence, ‘An Adieu to Upton Bank’ in Poems (Kinder; London, 1847) p. 78. Verse 4.
2
http://www.clwydianrangeaonb.org.uk/text01.asp?PageId=2
3
Quoted in Mary S Lovell, A Rage to Live: A Biography of Richard and Isabel Burton (London;
Abacus, 1999) p. 345.
11
stones down a craggy precipice. At twelve, there was aloud clap, and
the vertex [summit] of the hill threw up, in the same instant, vast
bodies of combustible matter; liquid fire rolled along the heaps of
ruins; at the close of all, nature seemed to make a grand effort, and
rent one side of the mountain, which was solid stone, into a hiatus
[fissure], whose breadth seemed to be about 200 yards; the summit
of the hill tumbled into the vast opening, and the top appears level,
which before was quite perpendicular. All is now hushed; but in the
places where the fire melted the snow, the earth throws out the
verdure of May. At Ruthin, as two persons were foolishly
endeavouring to make their escape from the danger, they were
buried in a [snow] drift; several made their escape from St. Asaph
into the sea, and fell victims to their timidity.4
4
The Annual Register, or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature for the Year 1773, Fifth Edition
(London; Printed for J. Dodsley in Pall Mall, 1793) p. 76.
5
http://www.walesontheweb.org/cgi-bin/gw/chameleon
6
John Ingleby (1749-1808) was a topographical artist who specialised in producing small watercolour
views. See: Paul Joyner, Artists in Wales C.1740-c.1851: A Handlist of Artists Living and Working in
Wales from C.1740 Up to C.1851 (Aberystwyth; National Library of Wales, 1997).
12
7
John Burke and John Bernard Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of
Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. I – A to L (London; Henry Colburn, 1847) p. 655.
8
‘A List of the Subscribing Members of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,’ an appendix
to The Rev. Hubert Marsh, The National Religion the Foundation of National Education: A Sermon
Preached in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, London on Thursday, June 13, 1811 [. . .] (London;
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1811) p. 54. The church was part of the diocese of St
Asaph, which included Flintshire and Denbighshire, with parts of Caernarvonshire, Merionethshire,
Montgomeryshire, Cheshire and Shropshire. Thomas Nicholas, Annals and Antiquities of the Counties
and County Families of Wales (Baltimore; Genealogical Publishing, 1991) p. 448.
9
Quoted in R J Edwards, A History of the Jubilee Tower on Moel Fammau in North Wales (London;
Arliss Andrews, 1885). Reprint edition, The Prince of Wales Countryside Award: Moel Fammau
Project. A History of the Jubilee Tower on Moel Fammau in North Wales, by R J Edwards (1885)
reproduced from an original copy and amplified from contemporary papers with an account of its
rehabilitation for European Conservation Year 1970 (Mold; Flintshire County Council, 1970) p. 7.
(Hereafter cited as ‘Edwards’). The manuscript of Edwards book is in the National Library of Wales,
Aberystwyth. NLW MS 2108B. It contains some material that did not appear in the published work.
10
Quoted in Edwards. p. 8.
13
Kenyon made contact with the Heir to the Throne, Prince George the
Prince of Wales, who was soon to become Prince Regent when
George III’s recurrent ‘insanity’ reappeared, and on 3 August
procured the sum of 100 guineas (£105) towards the cost. The next
twelve donors, in descending order of contribution (which perhaps
gives some indication of the pecking order amongst the North Wales
squirearchy) were as follows:
11
Edward Parry, Royal Visits and Progresses to Wales [. . .] (London; Chapman Hall, 1851) p. 415.
The amounts have been rendered into modern usage. There were also a great number of people who
subscribed one guinea (£1.05) to the fund, and a number of documents relating can be found in the
Denbighshire Record Office, located at Ruthin Gaol. DRO DD/WY/5742.
12
See the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography for a full account of his life and works.
13
Quoted in: Peter Howell, ‘The Jubilee Tower on Moel Famau’ in Architectural History, Vol. 27.
1984. p. 332.
14
14
A Descendant of Sir D de H (‘a descendant of an antient [ancient] line of loyal ancestry’)
‘Celebration of the Jubilee, upon Moel’Famma Oct. 25 1810’ in Sylvanus Urban, The Gentleman’s
Magazine and Historical Chronicle: from January to June 1811, Volume LXXXI (London; John
Nichols and Son, 1811) p. 126. (Hereafter cited as ‘Urban’).
15
Howell. p. 333. Salt Museum references: 1977.3419.5 and 1977.3419.?
16
Reminder for promised subscription to Jubilee Tower. Ruthin Gaol. DRO DD/DM/1025/2
17
Howell. p. 332.
18
Parry. p. 415.
15
19
Eliza Gutch and Mabel Peacock, County Folk-Lore, Vol. 5: (London: Folk-Lore Society, 1908), pp.
383-384.
20
A Vieusseux, Napoleon Bonaparte: His Sayings and his Deeds. Two Volumes. (London; Charles
Knight & Co., 1846) Vol. I. p. 135.
16
Bread and circuses are, metaphorically, famed for keeping ‘the great
unwashed’ quiet, and the ceremony that took place on the summit of
Moel Famau on 25 October, and the celebrations afterwards, were, if
reports published shortly afterwards are to be believed, redolent of
both.
21
Twelve in number: A Guinea of George III; a half Guinea after the Union with Ireland; a gilt medal of
his Majesty, on his completing the 50th year of his reign, with the motto “We praise thee, O God;” a
white medal of his Majesty on the same occasion, expressing also the Union with Ireland, and the
universal joy of the Nation; a bronze medal of his Majesty; the reverse alluding to the Victories of the
War, especially Lord Nelson’s glorious Victory of the Nile, 1798; a bronze medal of his Majesty, on his
preservation from an assassin in 1810; a bronze medal on the Union with Ireland, in Jan. 1801; a bronze
medal on the Peace [of Amiens] 1802; a bronze medal of the Prince and Princess of Wales; a bronze
17
The Noble Lord then, in an excellent speech, in which, from his
heart, flowed the most noble and truly loyal sentiments, alluded to
the leading incidents in our Gracious Sovereigns character [. . .]
Lord Kenyon then distributed more medals; and [. . .] laid the
first stone of the intended column in the name of his Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales. [. . .] Mr Harrison then read the following
inscription to be fixed into the stone:
medal of Earl Howe, on his glorious victory 4th June 1794; a bronze medal of Marquis Cornwallis, on
receiving Tippoo Sultan’s Sons as Hostages in 1792; a bronze medal of Lord Nelson, from the statue
erected at Birmingham to his glorious memory. Urban. p. 127.
22
Urban. pp. 125-6.
18
mountain to Denbigh, Ruthin and Mold for the ‘bread.’ Free dinners
of roasted oxen were prepared at these places, and the celebrations,
of ‘utmost hilarity and loyalty,’ complete with fireworks continued
through the evening. It was noted that ‘Lord Kenyon, upon this
occasion, desirous that the poor should participate in the general joy
that prevailed, ordered a fat ox to be distributed in the vicinity of
Mold, and likewise one in and about the town of Hanmer [. . .]
several sheep he also distributed in smaller districts in the country.’23
At Chirk Castle, Denbighshire, the ‘great gates’ were thrown open in
the afternoon and
23
Urban. p. 126.
24
Quoted in Edwards. p. 20.
19
this kingdom) and appropriate – the name Abercromby will explain
my meaning [. . .] 25
25
Quoted in Edwards. p. 12.
26
Douglas J Brewer and Emily Teeter, Egypt and the Egyptians (Cambridge; Cambridge University
Press, 1999) p. 6.
27
Nikolaus Pevsner, Studies in Art, Architecture, and Design. Two Volumes. Vol. I. From Mannerism
to Romanticism (New York; Walker, 1968) pp. 213, 251.
28
James Stevens Curl, The Egyptian Revival: Ancient Egypt as the Inspiration for Design Motifs in the
West (Abingdon; Routledge, 2005) p. 204. The most obvious, and famous, Egyptian monument in the
UK, the so-called ‘Cleopatra’s Needle’ on the Thames embankment in London, has nothing to do with
the Egyptian Revival. Firstly, it is a genuine artefact, dating from around 1460BC, the time of Pharaoh
Thotmes III. Secondly, though the project was first mooted in 1801, it was not until 1878 that the
artefact was finally brought to the UK to commemorate the British victory over Napoleon. See: W R
Wilde, Narrative of a Voyage to Madeira, Tenerife and along the Shores of the Mediterranean [. . .]
(Dublin; William Curry, 1844) p. 619.
20
pioneered it, being the first such completed structure in the United
Kingdom (Picture 3).29
The Tower
The design was, it seems, indeed approved by the Prince, who had
taken over the monarchy from his father and become Prince Regent
on 5 February 1811.30 The summit of Moel Famau was owned by the
Crown, via the recently established Office of Woods, Forests and
Land Revenues, through it being part of an allotment to the crown
under the Llanferres and Cilcain Enclosure Act.31 Despite Kenyon
purchasing several of the allotments32 around the summit in 1811, the
Conveyance stipulated that an area around the proposed monument,
and a way to access it, remain in the possession of the Crown so as to
guarantee public accessibility. The exception to the land transfer was
stated as follows:
29
Howell. p. 334.
30
For the Regency Act, 1811 see: A Aspinall and E Anthony Smith (Eds.) English Historical
Documents 1783-1832 (London; Routledge, 2000) pp. 83-6.
31
National Archives: CRES 49/2675 336298. Details of the ‘Llanferres and Kilken Act’ can be found at
the Flintshire Record Office - QS/DEM/1, QS/DEM/2 - and Ruthin Gaol - QSD/DE/1 - whilst relevant
maps are contained in Roger J P Kain, John Chapman and Richard R. Oliver, The Enclosure Maps of
England and Wales 1595–1918: A Cartographic Analysis and Electronic Catalogue (Cambridge;
Cambridge University Press, 2004).
32
Enclosure or, as it was sometimes spelt, Inclosure was, and remains, a matter of great controversy.
Put basically, it involved the appropriation of common land to private landowners and the forced
consolidation of agriculture from small-scale open-field to a larger enclosed field system. This process
was of long-standing, beginning in the 14th century, but it was under the pressure of a greatly expanding
population and the need to use the land more efficiently that thousands of Enclosure Acts were passed
by Parliament in the period 1750-1850. Though small landowners and those who lost their communal
rights were sometimes compensated with plots of land referred to as ‘allotments,’ these Acts frequently
forced smaller farmers to sell to the big landowners. This in turn created large numbers of landless and
dispossessed people who migrated to the cities in search of a living. Dependent upon point of view, this
was either a much-needed shake-up of an archaic and inefficient system, or a rapacious quest by large
and unscrupulous landowners. For further reading see:
http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/places/histlan4.htm, John E. Martin, Feudalism to Capitalism: Peasant
and Landlord in English Agrarian Development (London; Macmillan, 1983), Frank A. Sharman, ‘An
Introduction to the Enclosure Acts’ in The Journal of Legal History, Volume 10, Issue 1 May 1989, pp.
45-70.
21
land part of the said Allotment or one of them to be of the superficial
content of one acre statute measure33 round the site [of the proposed
tower] together with the right of a convenient carriage way to the
same of the breadth of eight yards [7.3 metres] at the least [. . .] for
the use of all persons resorting thereto from the highway [. . .] being
the turnpike road from Mold to Ruthin [. . .]. 34
[. . .] The men employed to search for stone were not able to find any
on the east side where they were directed to try [,] in consequence of
which I directed them to begin last week on the west side of the hill,
and I now have the satisfaction to state [. . .] that good stone has
been found there within a few yards of the summit which will lessen
the expense of the building very much. I shall inform Mr Penson of
this circumstance to enable him to form his estimate with greater
accuracy.36
33
An ‘Acre Statute Measure’ was 4,840 square yards, or 0.4 hectare.
34
‘Extract from Conveyance to Lord Kenyon of Allotments in Llanferres and Kilken dated 23 March
1811.’ National Archives; CRES 49/2675 336298.
35
Howell. p. 335.
36
Edwards. p. 13.
22
We do not know how much the estimate was, but it was almost
certainly more than £3,235; the latter figure being the one presented
to the committee tasked with receiving the ‘plans of the intended
building and to adopt and carry into execution such as may be
thought proper’ on 1 October. On that date the committee,
augmented with several of the subscribers, convened at The Eagles
Inn, Wrexham, and resolved:
That a contract be entered into with Mr. Penson for erecting the
Jubilee Tower, according to a plan designed by Mr Harrison, and
adopted at a former meeting of the subscribers.39
It was also revealed at the meeting that the total amount collected in
subscriptions up to that date came to a little over £1,130; there was
thus a shortfall of over £2,100. Further subscriptions were solicited,
and one account details that by 15 August 1814 Penson had been
paid £1,750.40 Howell concludes that Kenyon made up the balance.41
37
Robert Anthony, ‘Penson, Thomas, Sr.’ in AW Skempton (Ed.), A Biographical Dictionary of Civil
Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland (London; Thomas Telford, 2002) p. 518.
38
Quoted in Edwards. pp. 13-14.
39
A report of the meeting is reproduced in Edwards. pp. 14-15. In part, quoted in Howell. p. 335.
40
Plasnewydd MSS at Ruthin Gaol. GB 0209 DD/GR/333.
23
On the top of Moel Famau, a lofty eminence rising 1845 feet above
the level of the sea, and a few miles south-east from Denbigh,
stands a pyramidical monument of great size and conspicuous
figure. It is called the Jubilee Monument, and was erected about
1810 to commemorate the 50th year of the reign of George III. It is a
rough stone building of 150 feet [45 metres] in height, and measures
50 feet [15 metres] in diameter at the base.43
47
Megan Ellis, Griffith, Moses (1747-1819) http://yba.llgc.org.uk/en/s-GRIF-MOS-1747.html
48
http://www.llgc.org.uk/ardd/pennant/llun29.gif
49
Two, in Cheshire Record Office, Chester, and The Salt Museum, Northwich, have already been
referred to. The version sent to the Prince Regent in 1811 is in the Royal Archives at Windsor.
http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page3553.asp
25
all the high grounds in the neighbouring counties; it is seen from the
city of Chester, from Liverpool, and other distant places, and forms a
conspicuous and well-known landmark for vessels navigating the
Irish Sea.50
50
Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales [. . .] Two Volumes (London; S Lewis and Co.,
1849) Available online at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47842
51
Parry. pp. 414-6.
52
Edwards. p. 42.
26
53
http://www.northwalesattractions.co.uk/Images/Virtual/MofA/MofAHome.html
54
Charles Stephenson, ‘Why this effigy of a man keeps the company of eagles,’ in the Press & Journal,
Highland Edition, 30 December 1994.
27
55
D C Castledine, ‘Restoration of the Jubilee Tower on Moel Famau’ in The Annual Report of the
County Archivist (Mold; Clwyd County Council, 1980) p. 25.
56
William Davis, Hand-Book of the Vale of Clwyd: A Reprint of the 1856 Edition (Mold; Clwyd County
Council, 1988) pp. 165-69.
57
Undated. ‘Moel Famau: List of Subscriptions for the Purpose of Putting the Tower into a State of
Repair.’ Ruthin Gaol. DRO DD/WY/6851.
58
Undated. ‘Moel Famau: List of Subscriptions for the Purpose of Building a Visitors Room and Shed
for Horses, and for Repairing the Mountain Road.’ Ruthin Gaol. DRO DD/WY/6851.
59
John Hicklin, Excursions in North Wales: A Complete Guide to the Tourist [. . .] (London; Whittaker
Co., 1847) p. 172.
28
became the 3rd Baron, succeeded him.60 In 1856 he put the Moel
Famau allotments up for sale at an auction held at the Wynnstay
Hotel, Wrexham – formerly the Eagles Inn where the resolution to
erect the tower had been carried on 1 October 1812. John Catherall
of Mold bought them for £2000.61 Perhaps it was the demise of
George Kenyon that led to further neglect of the Jubilee Tower,
already noted as being ‘in a very dilapidated state’ in 1850 despite
the repairs carried out only a few years previously.62 During the
winter of 1855 one of the corners was further damaged by a storm,63
though a guidebook published in 1861 merely noted ‘a pyramidical
column 150 feet in height’ and failed to note any damage.64
Writing in 1885, Edwards concluded ‘[. . .] that if the
building had been periodically inspected, and any incipient
deterioration attended to, it, perhaps, might to this day have braved
the elements.’65
That it failed to do so was then, probably, a combination of
neglect and the inherent unfitness of the vernacular techniques used
to construct it. Though there have been some differences of opinion
as to when it actually happened, it seems fairly conclusive that the
structure suffered a catastrophic failure between one and two o’clock
on the afternoon of 28 October 1862 (see below).66 The extent of the
damage also varies between accounts, the Caernarvon Herald of 1
November stating ‘about two thirds of the obelisk, or forty yards
[36.5 metres] of the upper portion, fell to the ground, probably from
the effects of the severe storm of wind and rain, which has visited us
lately.’ The North Wales Chronicle of the same date goes further,
somewhat exaggeratingly claiming that the Tower ‘has now only the
appearance of a carelessly piled heap of stones (Picture 6-7).’67
60
See: http://www.thepeerage.com/p1813.htm#i18123
61
Edwards. pp. 17-18. ‘Sale particulars of Moel Famau Tenement’ 1856. Ruthin Gaol: DRO
DD/WY/6213.
62
Parry. p. 416.
63
Davis. pp. 165-69.
64
Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in North Wales with a Travelling Map (London; John Murray,
1861) p. 61.
65
Edwards. pp. 42-3.
66
Edwards. pp. 44, 46. Howell. pp. 337, 341. n. 36.
67
Both papers are quoted in Edwards. pp. 44-45.
29
I have discovered the exact date upon which the tower fell. The
reports of the event published at the time in the local papers gave
different days. In the Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald, however, it
was stated that at the time of the fall the Vale of Clwyd Harriers, in
full cry, had just passed. Now, in that paper of 25 October 1862, the
following remarkable advertisement appeared:
“The Vale of Clwyd Hariers (sic), Captain Price, will met on
Tuesday October 28, at Llangynhafal Village.”
‘Hariers’ no doubt is a misprint for Harriers; and it may be
accepted as a fact, that the tower fell on the day last mentioned.71
There were those who were not sorry to see the demise of the
structure, and one such wrote to the Wrexham Advertiser shortly after
the collapse with some asperity:
I see by your paper that the Moel Famau Jubilee Tower has been
blown down by the wind. I am very glad of it. It was an unsightly
object as a work of art, and in bad taste as a tribute of respect to a
68
Howell. p. 341. n. 7.
69
Edwards. p. 44.
70
http://www.truveo.com/Moel-Fammau-Jubilee-Tower/id/1335369290
71
Letter from R J Edwards to Denbighshire Free Press. Dated only 1887. NLW MSS 2108B.
30
monarch who never did Wales any good. Thackeray has built
George [III] a monument upon paper, which did not cost the country
£6,00072 – which no wind can blow down – and which if not very
respectful to the King, has the merit of being lifelike and true.73 Let us
have no further prostitution of Welsh virtue at such a shrine. Wales, if
left to herself, can afford to jog along without the patronage of “the
Georges.” If Moel Famau Tower is to be rebuilt, let it be as a
monument to Llewelyn.74
[. . .] a party of us set out for Moel Famau, the highest of the hills
bounding the valley and distant as the crow flies about nine miles.
There stands on it what remains of the Jubilee Tower erected in
honour of George III’s 50th year of royalty, an ugly and trumpery
construction, makebelieve-massive, but so frail that it was blown
over by the gale that wrecked the Royal Charter,75 and it cumbers
the hilltop and interrupts the view.76
Restoration
of the public who visited them, prompted one of the local landowners
to write to Edward Stafford Howard, Commissioner of Woods,
Forests and Land Revenues. According to Algernon Potts, a
descendant of the Henry Potts who had provided money and stone
for the 1846 repairs, of Glan-yr-Afon Hall in Llanferres:78
78
Algernon Potts was appointed as a Magistrate for Flintshire in 1893. According to the census he was
‘living on his own means’ at Glan yr Afon Hall, together with his wife, son, two daughters, a governess
and four servants in 1901. Coincidentally Glan-yr-Afon Hall had also been designed by Thomas
Harrison. Edward Hubbard, Clwyd: Denbighshire and Flintshire (London; Penguin, 1996) p. 58.
79
Letter of 19 April 1904. National Archives; CRES 49/2675 336298.
80
Minute by ‘G B’ of 20 April 1904. National Archives; CRES 49/2675 336298.
32
open space and if there is danger to excursionists I agree that the
local authority is the proper body to put up notices, with the consent
of the crown as owners of the site. The tower is not an ancient
monument of any great interest, and I think the department should
refrain from doing anything indicative of claiming or supervising it.81
81
Annotation by ‘W H More.’ National Archives; CRES 49/2675 336298.
82
Draft of Letter from Charles E Howlett to P Harding Roberts 12 May 1904. National Archives; CRES
49/2675 336298.
33
The council considered this letter on the 27 May, and the status of
the ruins as outlined above appears to have been accepted. A reply
was despatched on the same date to that effect:
85
Edwards. p. 52.
35
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